Ever look up in the sky and see a
Boeing 747 flown by Northwest Airlines circling the city
and wondered what it is doing?

For
the past several years Northwest Airlines has used the
airport for pilot training. The long runway at Hector
makes it a good place for practical training experience.
Usually once a month and unannounced, Northwest flies
the aircraft to Fargo from Minneapolis to train airline
captains that recently upgraded from smaller aircraft in
the Northwest fleet.

The aircraft is not
carrying any passengers but a training crew of
approximately six pilots. Each pilot is required to
perform at least three landings and departures to become
current in the type of aircraft. The aircraft usually
performs 10 to 20 cycles (take-off and landing) before
returning to Minneapolis. Northwest also uses airports
in Rochester, Duluth and Winnipeg for training.

The airport receives
landing fees from Northwest for using the runway but at
a reduced rate compared to if the aircraft was carrying
passengers. Hector does occasionally see a Northwest 747
full of passengers, but that occurs when the Minneapolis
Airport is shut down due to weather.

Also on an occasional basis, other
aircraft operators use the airport for training. Boeing
favors the strong crosswinds in Fargo for flight testing
of new aircraft. The airport viewing park is a favorite
spot for aviation enthusiasts to watch the aircraft
train or flight test.